Hilsman nets laptops

As part of a three-year, $10 million initiative created by Gov. Roy Barnes and implemented by the Georgia Technology Authority -- a group formed by the state legislature last year charged to set statewide technology standards -- Hilsman Middle School is one of 10 middle schools in Georgia to receive laptop computers for every student and teacher.

All of the laptops will operate at the schools via a wireless connection, which will enable the students and teachers to log on to the Internet from any point in the building and from the school's outdoor classroom.

Hilsman teachers are currently participating in training sessions at the school with representatives from NetSchool -- the education-based Internet company selected by GTA to place the computers in the schools.

Teachers, like Hilsman social studies teacher Mary Quinn, will use the laptops during classroom sessions by having students conduct research and work on assignments.

''In the past, I've had a hard time getting time for my students to go online in the computer lab. With the laptops and the wireless connections, they will be able to go online right there in the classroom,'' Quinn said. ''This is just an incredible opportunity for us. I really think we are going to see this make a difference in terms of student performance.''

Jennifer Swann, left, an eighth-grade teacher, and Holly Sterling, a sixth-grade teacher at Hilsman Middle School, talk recently after a tutorial on their new laptop computers. The computers are being issued to all teachers and students at the school as part of a multimillion-dollar state program.Cameron Swartz/Staff

Students will not be issued laptops until they also go through NetSchool training sessions. Hilsman Principal Gayle Rogers said she does not know when those training sessions will be, but she expects the students to be working independently on the computers by Sept. 10. Training sessions will also be offered for parents of students at the school within the next month, Rogers said.

The computers will connect to the wireless network via a card, which works something like an antenna, inserted into the side of the machines.

Ginger Jewell, Clarke County School District instructional technology director, likens the technology to that surrounding a cordless phone.

''As long as you are within a number of feet of the access points, you can be connected to the Internet. It's very much like how a cordless phone works,'' Jewell said.

Students will be able to log on to the Internet and walk freely from one classroom to another with their laptops, never losing the connection. They can even go to the school's outside classroom and log on, she said.

In addition, students will be allowed to take the laptops home each day, Rogers said, where they can log on to the Internet via an At&T connection installed on the computers. Students can charge the computers at home with battery packs.

''To me, the single greatest thing this will do is level the playing field because every student in the school will have a computer to work on,'' she said.

Rogers said she ''expects no problem with loss or theft'' of the computers.

According to Jewell, if a laptop is stolen, it will be rendered useless to the thief.

''Because of the way the software has been configured, the computers have to be reconnected to the wireless network within a certain amount of hours or it will be D.O.A.,'' Jewell said. ''Basically, if someone stole one of these, they would be able to use it for a very short while and then they would have a really elegant-looking doorstop.''

Another safeguard feature on the laptops is an Internet filter which will not allow Internet connections to pornographic sites, she said.

Hilsman and other schools were targeted to be a part of the initiative -- which is funded through the state legislature and the GTA -- based on their needs to improve standardized test scores and the number of students who receive free or reduced-price lunches.

Middle schools were selected as the target age group, according to Jewell, because ''students at that age are kind of at the make-or-break time in terms of establishing how successful they will be in high school.''

After three years, the GTA will assess standardized test scores in the 10 schools to see if they have increased. If the scores do increase, the GTA may consider placing laptops in the hands of every middle school student in the state, Jewell said.

Students and teachers at Hilsman are being issued Gateway laptops. Other schools involved may receive different types of computers, depending on their networks, she said.

Rogers said she is anxiously awaiting the day the Hilsman students will begin using the laptops.

''It's almost just unimaginative that this could happen for us,'' Rogers said of the initiative. ''I think this is one of the single greatest things that has happened at this school.''

This article published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, August 12, 2001.